Veterans Day is a day to pay tribute and honor to those soldiers who have made the ultimate sacrifice. They chose to answer the call of duty to protect their fellow American citizens so that we can live in freedom.
Many do not know the hard, unfortunate facts that surround soldiers after they serve. Recent numbers reported 49,933 homeless veterans, 450,000 veterans actively seeking a job, 300,000 of the 1.7 million veterans who served in Afghanistan/ Iraq (20%) suffer from PTSD or a form of depression and 8,000 veterans sadly commit suicide every year.
There are soldiers who now are learning to adjust to a new way of life due to physical accommodations, spouses who only have the last voicemail or email from their loved one to hang onto, children who have no mother/father to eagerly welcome home and parents who experienced the one unrequested desire of burying their child.
On this Veterans Day, I personally chose to remind my soldier just how much I appreciate the sacrifice he makes for his very own family and country. He’s greater and more important than any Superman, Spiderman, Batman or Avenger.
He’s a hero to his children, his wife, his community and his country — for every year his duty has called him to serve and protect, for every field assignment that he’s had to go on, for every late night of work or days we’ve had to be apart without communication, for every Hail and Farewell or FRG meeting attended — answering the call to walk alongside him as his wife has been worth them all.
So as you partake in the festivities surrounding Veterans Day, just as my family will, I also ask that you find a way to personally thank our service members for the sacrifice that they and their families make. In addition, pause for a moment to remember those whose lives have been lost for your freedom and make a personal decision to support and pray for our soldiers beyond November 11.
Happy Veterans Day to the men and women who answered the call to protect and serve!